A HILTON man who stole thousands of pounds of car parts from his employer and sold them on eBay has been handed a community order.

Jason Cherry, of Thames Way, admitted the thefts between October 1, 2011, and June 12, this year, after stealing £5,346.45 worth of car parts from Lohan Ltd, on the Raleigh Hall Industrial Estate, Eccleshall, near Stafford.

Dave Bell, prosecuting, told Burton Magistrates’ Court that the 25-year-old was employed by a company specialising in engineering equipment and started in summer last year.

During summer this year the marketing manager found that items were being sold on online auction site eBay and Cherry had the marketing rights to them.

The items were followed back to the account holder, which was found to be Cherry.

When questioned by police, he fully admitted the charges saying he was desperate for the money.

He provided a full list of the items he had sold on eBay, 66 in total, to officers, which allowed the company to work out how much he had stolen.

Mr Bell said: “He was very co-operative with the police and expressed remorse.” He added that Cherry had no previous convictions.

After hearing the prosecution evidence, magistrates accepted jurisdiction on the case and asked for a fast delivery report which saw Cherry returned to the court for sentencing the same afternoon.

Mark Hemming, defending, said the defendant pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had shown remorse for his actions, as well as assisting the police with their inquiries.

He added that Cherry was now working for a family firm and had already repaid his previous employer £1,000, made up with his last pay check.

Magistrates sentenced Cherry to a 12- month community order with a requirement to complete 200 hours unpaid work, reduced from 300 for his early guilty plea.

He was also ordered to pay back the remaining £4,346.45 which he stole and £85 court costs.